Urge ITV To Stop Broadcasting the Grand National

Horses have died at the Grand National Festival in 17 out of the last 19 years. This unethical spectacle is a national disgrace, yet ITV is still broadcasting it.

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At 4.5 miles, the headline Grand National race is one of the longest and most hazardous in the world – the high risk factor is what makes it famous. Almost every year, horses lose their lives during the three-day Grand National Festival, sustaining horrific and often fatal injuries at notorious fences such as The Chair, Becher's Brook, and Canal Turn. Every time that horses are forced to jump these excessively high obstacles, it puts tremendous pressure on their slender front legs, leading to broken legs, necks, and backs.

When they get too old or stop performing well enough to be profitable, they're often sent to slaughter. Approximately 1,000 horses from the racing industry are killed in abattoirs in Britain every year and turned into dog food or cheap meat, while others face horrific live-export journeys to Europe.

Take Action

By broadcasting and promoting the Grand National, ITV is complicit in animal abuse and suffering. Please take a stand for horses today and ask ITV Chair Sir Peter Bazalgette not to broadcast this cruel event.

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Sir

Peter

Bazalgette

ITV

Dear Sir Peter Bazalgette,

I was excited to learn that this year, ITV is broadcasting The Virtual Grand National, in which no real horses will be injured or die. Will you please pledge never to show the real Grand National Festival again and permanently switch to airing the virtual race instead?

The Grand National is one of the deadliest events on the horse-racing calendar. Horses have died during the festival in 17 out of the last 19 years. Every race is likely to bring yet more catastrophic breakdowns, fractured bones, broken spines, and deaths. Promoting events in which horse deaths are almost guaranteed is shameful, and I urge you to remove the cruel spectacle from your programming.

In the headline Grand National race, 40 horses must run side by side at breakneck speed on an intentionally hazardous obstacle course. They face 16 fences, 14 of which they're forced to jump over twice. These fences are larger, both in height and width, than those found at other British racecourses – and many have ditches on either side that are wider and deeper than what most horses are able to clear. The deadliest jump, Becher's Brook, is often called the "killer fence", for obvious reasons.

The dangerous course makes it almost impossible for horses to get through the race unscathed. Not even half of those who started the race in 2017 and 2018 managed to complete it. Some horses collapse from exhaustion, while others simply stop running, unable to go on. Multiple horses racing at top speeds frequently approach jumps at the same time, causing chaos, confusion, and fatal headfirst crashes.

Fortunately, the public is starting to recognise that the opportunity to wear a fancy hat doesn't justify this cruelty, and many people are now turning their backs on this form of animal abuse. As one of the UK's leading television networks, ITV should be at the forefront of this movement by promoting ethical programming and refusing to broadcast an archaic spectacle in which animals are treated like nothing more than objects for our entertainment and disposed of like old betting slips.

I urge you to help prevent horses from being raced to their deaths in the name of "sport" by ceasing to air the Grand National.

Regards,

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Urge ITV To Stop Broadcasting the Grand National

Horses have died at the Grand National Festival in 17 out of the last 19 years. This unethical spectacle is a national disgrace, yet ITV is still broadcasting it.

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